Take Your Valentine to the Texas Observers' Rabble Rouser Round Up

Show your love for rabble-rousing journalism and join the Observer family on Valentines Day at their annual Fat Cat Schmoozefest.

Get the details at the Texas Observer.

AAS on the Governor's Enterprise Fund:"Quick to tout, slow to level with us"

Below is an editorial from the Austin American-Statesman on TPJ's report on the failures of Governor Perry's Enterprise Fund.

Read "Quick to tout, slow to level," at the Statesman.

Media Alert From Republican Party of Texas: TPJ is leftwing front group

Alert from Texas Republican Party of Texas:
Leftwing Front Groups Assualt Texas' Success Stories

"whereever you turn over a rock...you find them," says the RPT.

Read the full Alert from the Republican Party of Texas.

Texas Enterprise Fund - Media Coverage

TPJ's report on the failings of Governor Perry's Enterprise Fund has received widespread media attention. Below is a sampling of the coverage.

Associated Press:
Perry changes Enterprise Fund contracts
Dallas Morning News:
Report says Enterprise fund not created promised jobs
Austin American-Statesman:
Report criticizes Enterprise fund
Associated Press:
Countrywide scrapped Texas pact in December
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:
Watchdog group says job creation figures exagerated
Houston Chronicle:
Hutchison attacks Perry over Enterprise Fund

Governor Perry’s Pet Jobs Program Suffers Its Own Recession

Many projects receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies through Governor Rick Perry's high-profile Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) failed to meet their contractual job-creation targets as the recession took hold in 2008.

An analysis of 45 TEF projects that received a total of $363 million in tax subsidies finds that a growing number of TEF recipients defaulted on their job-creation pledges in 2008, with even more defaults expected for 2009.

Key findings of TPJ's analysis reveal:

* The Governor's Office has awarded $363 million to 45 TEF recipients to create or maintain 47,735 jobs. These projects claimed 31,319 jobs in compliance reports covering 2008.

* Just 13 of the 45 job-related projects reviewed were performing well.

*As of October 2009 the Governor has penalized 11 TEF grantees for defaulting on their job creation commitments. These penalties, totaling $647,100, amount to just 1 percent of the $64 million in TEF funding that they received.

* The Governor has imposed the "death penalty" on just two TEF projects despite the fact that many other TEF recipients have qualified for termination.

* In February 2009, Perry declared that the TEF program had created 54,000 jobs since 2003. More than one-third of these jobs are pledges that have yet to materialize.


Read the full Watch Your Assets report.

TPJ Criticizes Supreme Court Ruling on Corporate Money

Statement of Craig McDonald director of Texans for Public Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

“The Supreme Court has overturned a century-old policy that enjoys overwhelming public support. This ruling compels consumers and stockholders to pay for the political speech of corporations.

“This so-called ‘conservative’ court has handed corporations a constitutional right best reserved for human beings. No decision in the last 221 years has been better crafted to redefine ‘We the People.’

“This is a banner ruling for corporate special interests that dream of getting their hooks deeper into the body politic. Unleashing corporations to fill the airwaves with political ads will further dilute the role of citizens in elections.

“Congress and state legislatures should redress this dangerous ruling with a whole new wave of tougher campaign-finance laws.”

The Supreme Court opinion can be found here.
Associated Press story can be found at the New York Times.

DMN: Hutchison Leads Perry in Money Race

Wayne Slater reports that the Hutchison campaign will report more cash in the bank than Governor Perry in tomorrow's disclosure filings for the last half of 2009.

Read the article at the Dallas Morning News.

DMN: Perry appears well-financed as he, Hutchison prepare campaign reports

Wayne Slater at the Dallas Morning News reports that Gov. Rick Perry raised more than $7 million in the last six months and goes into the final stretch of the GOP primary for governor with $11.6 million in the bank. Official reports are due at the Texas Ethics Commission on Friday.

Read the story at the Dallas Morning News.
View TPJ's report analyzing the candidates' warchests through June, 2009.

New York Times: Courts Roll Back Limits on Election Spending

In anticipation of a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the use of corporate money in elections (Citizens United v. FEC) the New York Times published a review of recent court decisions rolling back key campaign finance regulations.

Read the article at the New York Times.

TPJ Critical of Innocence Project Attorney Fees

In an in-depth Dallas Morning News report, TPJ went on record to criticize an Innocence Project attorney who is privately profiting off compensation paid by the state to freed convicts.

Read the story in the Dallas Morning News.